Cracked Porcelain
by emmacrade24
Summary: Kakashi's missions always find a way to follow him back home, usually it's just memories, but this time it was in a more literal sense. When he's sent on an ANBU mission to rescue the lone survivor of a clan massacre he finds that this mission is one that will always stick with him. Whether he wants it to or not. KakashixOC
1. Chapter 1

**I hope you like this, it is indeed a revision of one I wrote a very long time ago. Please review!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the ocs**

Kakashi legs finally gave out as he crashed unceremoniously onto the muddy grass. He physically, mentally, and emotionally couldn't handle it anymore. He clutched his chest frantically; it felt as if his heart was being shredded into millions of pieces and for once he wasn't over exaggerating. The pain was so intense that he was sure that his chest would explode at any moment. The rain was coming down so hard at this point the only indicator that tears were streaming down his face relentlessly was the stinging in his eyes that came with it. His chest heaved with each sob and he hugged himself tightly in futile attempts to keep himself together.

They always left him eventually; he was always the one to get left behind. They never stayed for long. And usually it was his fault. Why did he let himself believe this time would be any different? He should have never fooled himself in thinking otherwise. He was so naïve. First his mother, then his father, Obito, Rin, his mentor, and now her.

It was in that moment of true desperation and complete self-despair that Kakashi swore he would never open his heart to anyone again. This was a man defeated.

* * *

-2 Years Earlier-

Being in the ANBU Kakashi had seen many things; death, torture, disembodiment, and he himself had done these things before. And besides the beginning of his career, these things hadn't bothered him much anymore. But this time as different somehow.

He, along with Tenzo and Itachi, were sent on a rescue mission. Normally ANBU don't accept missions like these, but like all things, there were exceptions. Amhara Tsoran the last member of the Amhara clan that had inherited their ability and was the heir of their clan. A band of rogue ninja had raided the compound that their clan resided at in the mountains just at the edge of the forest in the Land of Fire and kidnapped the girl. The Amhara clan had a specific type of chakra control that caused any kind of chakra to be pulled to their person to be used as a purer and denser form of chakra. This is what draws rogue ninja, like the ones that attacked the compound, to the Amhara people. Basically if you put a chakra seal on them their bodies become a battery, filling up with chakra until it is released.

Lord Third had said that this was the fourth attempt on the young Amhara within a couple years, and that after the third time the clan had entrusted the Leaf with the safety of their heir. The compound had been attacked early in the morning, just as everyone was waking up, and only one person that had managed to escape the raid and alert the Leaf. Everyone else was trapped inside the Amhara residence. Lord Third had said to expect the worst.

And so when the three ANBU members entered the grounds, they were not at all surprised at the gore that they were presented with. Bodies littered the ground, and the walls were painted in red. Silently Itachi scanned the inside of the building, locating all enemy targets. He gave the hand signs for eight in the main room, three guarding the door, and four farther back in the compound. With a quick hand motion from Kakashi the three men sprung into action.

It was easy for them to take out the guards, Tenzo hardly lifted a finger. But what was odd about their adversaries were the white masked they wore, not unlike their own ANBU issued ones. But the masks these men wore were not from any village that they recognized.

They quietly moved forward and soon learned that inside was much worse than the outside had been. There wasn't anything in the hallways besides over turned furniture, but when they got closer to the ballroom where Itachi had said they were holding the girl, the stench of decay and blood was enough to burn their noses and pull at their gag reflexes.

Kakashi wrinkled his nose in disgust, tugging his porcelain mask tighter around his face in attempts to keep the smell out. This was one thing he hated about the job was the smell. _Disgusting._ He thought with a grimace.

The silver haired nin pushed the smell to back of his mind for the moment and focused on the mission. He had Itachi placed the rogue mask wearing ninja in the room in a genjutsu, this was going to be over fast, easy and efficiently. No long drawn out battle. They were ANBU and they went for the efficient route. Kakashi watched as the men stiffened in their places and when Itachi gave them the them ok, the three of them stepped out of the shadows.

The outside was no inclination of how truly appalling and sickening the inside was. As expected there were numerous fatalities, but the odd thing was that they were all lined up in multiple, neat rows. They looked like a gory, soulless audience that were all watching the action going on center stage. They were all facing the young Amhara heir who was lofted about two feet off the ground, suspended by a chain that hung from the ceiling, bound and gagged. No matter how many times Kakashi thought he had seen it all, some sick lunatic had to go and prove him wrong.

They didn't spend more than a second analyzing the situation in front of them before diving into action.

Tenzou set out quickly to dispose of the paralyzed ninja, while Kakashi moved to release the girl. The young heir was covered in blood, there was more of it than he could see of her actual skin, her clothes were torn to tatters, and her green eyes were as wide as saucers with tears streaming down her face. Kakashi hated that expression, it was too familiar.

One of the rogue ninja was standing frozen beside her, he had a kunai pressed against the bare skin on her stomach where her shirt had been shredded and his other hand was stopped just short of her chest. His eyes were glazed over, watching some vision that Itachi was easily feeding them from the front of the room. The Copy Ninja narrowed his eyes angrily at this man, he was absolutely _disgusting_.

At first Kakashi though that Itachi had put her under the genjutsu as well, because she wasn't moving at all, but then she must have realized that her assailants were immobile because she began thrashing about and making these awful muffled screaming noises in attempts to escape.

Tenzou paused to look over a Kakashi curiously when he noticed the strangled noise, but continued on when his captain waved him off. Kakashi slowly made his way over to the struggling blonde heiress, trying not to scare her more than she already was. As he approached she started to struggle more, but when Kakashi pulled the kunai that was leaving thin red lines on her stomach away from her instead of attacking her like she had though he would, she calmed. But kept the petrified expression.

He hated how her wide eyes tracked his every move, the expression on her face made him feel uneasy. She looked absolutely terrified of him and suspicious like she was expecting him to do something unforgivable to her. He suppressed a saddened sigh, _those eyes. _He thought. If it wasn't the horrific state of the girl, it was her expression that made his chest hurt out of sympathy.

Almost without thinking about it, Kakashi used that man's own kunai and slit his throat and let him fall to the ground to drown on his own blood, trying to block out the gross gurgling sound that the kidnapper had begun to make in attempts to fill his lungs up with air. The girl instantly began struggling against her bonds and screaming again, if possible her eyes widened more. _Shit, that probably wasn't the most considerate thing to do right in front of her. _

"It's alright we're here to help you." He tried to soothe her when jerked away from him when he moved to untie her. _She probably thinks we're one of them, what with all the killing and the masks. _He thought shaking his head slightly. Her eyes were red from her tears that held a steady flow streaming down her paled cheeks. Kakashi sighed and reached for the rope that held the girl to the roof despite her thrashing, grimacing when of her wild swings caught his rib, and used his katana to deftly cut her down. He awkwardly set her down onto the floor and went to untie her bound arms but before he could, she panicked and gave a swift kick to his groin.

"Ughmmph-!" Kakashi groaned as he fell gracelessly to the ground, completely surprised with how the events quickly turned. Itachi and Tenzou had just finished with the rogue ninja when they watched the girl temporarily incapacitate their captain. She didn't wait for them to make a move before she tore out of the room clumsily, legs wobbling from lack of use. She had been hanging there held captive for just over two days.

"I-I was not expecting that." Kakashi stammered, voice shaking with pain and slight embarrassment. He pulled himself off the floor and the three took off after her, catching up quickly. She had been hanging for the better of three days; all her muscles were stiff and uncooperative and she looked like a little foal attempting to walk for the first time. Kakashi would have chuckled if the situation wasn't so heavy-hearted. They carefully entered the room that she had fled into moments before, the girl was in such a frantic rush she hadn't even hut the door. _If she's trying to escape why would she trap herself inside the center of the compound? Surely she knows we could easily get in._

It was odd that she didn't take notice when the masked Leaf ninja came up behind her; she just stood in the middle of the room, unmoving. But as the sharingan user took in the rest of the room, he recognized it as a nursery. Ice ran through his veins. There, carelessly thrown on the floor, was a small child, pale, lying in a tiny pool of blood, obviously dead. This is what got to the grey haired man the hated most, the unnecessary tragic deaths that always befell innocent children. The boy didn't look older than one.

The shinobi shared a look, this mission just kept getting worse by the second. The heiress then unexpectedly collapsed onto the ground beside the child, weeping. _Such a god awful sound. _Kakashi thought sadly. _I hate that sound. _

No one moved for a few moments while the girl sobbed into the floor, her hands were still tied and her mouth still gagged, her body shaking pitifully. Kakashi frowned at the sight and carefully cut the remaining restraints off of her. She didn't even flinch at the contact his hand had briefly made on her shoulder.

Slowly, she reached out to the child as if to stroke its hair but then abruptly stood up and stumbled away from it. Then when she could stomach no more, she threw up, or rather dry heaved. She hadn't eaten in three days, there was nothing left in her stomach. But none the less her stomach convulsed violently again and again until she trembled, unable to keep herself steady anymore.

There was a yell from the front of the compound as the remaining kidnappers realized that someone had infiltrated and Tenzou left to finish off the rest of them. It was time for them to go. In and out, that was how they worked.

"Amhara-san, we are ANBU from the Hidden Leaf," Kakashi said, lowering his voice when the girl flinched," we are here to take you back to the village. We are here to help. Do you understand?" She nodded her head slowly, her eyes were distant.

"Can you walk?" He asked. She didn't answer. Instead using the wall as support she pulled herself up in a labored manor. She took a step forwards but collapsed in exhaustion, she would've rammed into the floor had Kakashi not been prepared for this and caught her.

"Will it be ok if I carry you Amhara-san?" Again she gave no response, but she didn't argue it so he picked her up carefully and secured her in his arms.

"Itachi?"

"Tenzou has finished with the other rogue ninja. We can go back out the way we came." The Prodigy Uchiha answered automatically understanding what his captain had been asking for. Itachi turned his red gaze to the girl Kakashi was carrying, the familiar dark circles under her eyes softened his expression for a moment. It was unfair for such a young girl to experience something this devastating; though he was one to talk she was older than he.

"Alright let's go then." They began walking back to Tenzou through the corridors. At the sight of another dead body that was strewn on a stair case the girl began to sob again. Kakashi could understand, all around her loved ones were slaughtered and left rotting on the floors of her childhood home. A deep frown etched its way onto his face. Yeah, these kinds of missions were the worst.

He set her down onto a chair in the hallway and reached into his pocket, pulling out his Konoha head band that he kept hidden in his pocket during ANBU missions. The girl stiffened but otherwise didn't move as he blindfolded the band over her eyes, securing it with a knot behind her head. She didn't need to see anything more.

He left his band over her eyes long after they left the compound. It seemed to calm her and this was much better than looking into those torn green eyes. When they reached their temporary camp Kakashi undid the band and they all watched silently as her eyes fluttered open and adjusted to the dim evening light. The time it took for them reaching the compound, rescuing the Amhara girl, and returning back to there was only under a couple hours, it hadn't taken much time at all. This was around the time that Kakashi noticed the heiress seemed to be vibrating, and for whatever reason he didn't know why.

"Itachi, do you see this?" Kakashi asked in a hushed tone. The thirteen year old nodded.

"Hai. There is something obstructing her chakra flow." His red eyes roamed expertly over her lithe form, searching for the perpetrator. It only took a few moments for Itachi to locate a chakra seal on her right collarbone. He gently placed a hand over it and gave the release jutsu. She slumped against the tree she propped against and let out a sigh relief. A wave of chakra pulsed away from her, with her as the epicenter.

"They must have placed this on her during their original attack." Itachi commented. "Given the amount of chakra that was built up in her system." The girl nodded tiredly in conformation.

"Th-that's why I couldn't fight back…" She rasped, little white puffs blowing out. "I was never trained i-in combat, only chakra control…" She trailed off, either unwilling or unable to finish her thoughts, but they understood. The Amhara clan was known for using their chakra control for passiveness, not aggressiveness, so she would have been easy to take down and handle. Once they cut off her only way to fight, it was like lion taking down a duckling.

Tenzou awkwardly placed a hand on her shoulder, he had seen other members do this to comfort one another and it seemed like good idea. But when the girl flinched and jumped away, he retracted his hand confused. If they hadn't been wearing masks the wood style user would have seen the amused, albeit sympathetic look on Kakashi's face.

The girl glanced glumly down at her hands, a sorrowful look on her face. _It's better than a fearful one. _ Kakashi reasoned. For a while her hysterics had calmed down, but they came back in full force, whether it was because she was relieved to be free, or tormented by survivor's guilt or both. She buried her face in her hands and her small body was ravaged by sobs that no matter how tired she was continued to plague her. Kakashi tried to calm her down, but all that did was cause her to hyperventilate. _A panic attack. _

As Kakashi watched this young girl, who no more than two years his junior, crumble in front of him he couldn't help but be reminded of his own self when he had to endure all his loved ones disappear. Taking pity on the fragile looking blonde, who was caving in on herself in agony, the Copy Nin pushed down as gently as he could to be able to render her unconscious, allowing the sleep that had been avoiding her the past few days to overtake her. All three ANBU could admit that this was the kindest thing they could do for her for the moment.

* * *

"We're going to have to send a cleanup team to the compound; we should send a hawk back to Konoha." Tenzou commented. The wood style user was lounging on the floor of the hotel room they were staying in, in front of the fire place. The first major snow storm of the year had started up, so the team took refuge in a nearby town. The Amhara girl had not woken up yet, they had her tucked firmly in a bed while her body rested. That seal had taken a lot out of her, it had built up so much pressure inside of her that when it finally released her chakra levels were close to nonexistent.

Itachi, who was resting in a chair with his mask placed neatly on the table beside him, nodded in agreement and silently pulled a piece of parchment from the table and began to write the request. Kakashi sighed and flopped unceremoniously down onto one of the beds in the room. He rubbed his masked face in agitation and ran a hand through his hair, it felt more grey than silver though. Missions like these were ones that chipped away at his ever corroding soul. Yes, he was glad that they were able to rescue the Amhara girl like they were supposed to relatively unscathed, but he out of all people know what it's like to wake up one morning and realize every single person you loved are dead and gone.

"Be sure to warn them about what they're walking in to." Kakashi instructed tiredly. Itachi gave no indication that he heard him other than a slight tilt of the head. The Copy Nin had gone back to compound after they got settled into the inn to gather intel on the rogue ninja. And as far as he could tell they were just random men that had banded together with the common goal of obtaining more power. But it didn't appear as if their leader was there when the Konoha nin had taken over. He wasn't too concerned with that fact at the moment, he doubted that they would risk attacking the ANBU ninjas, but he still noted to be cautious.

He wasn't sure how well the small heir would be when she woke up, they would probably have to walk back to the Leaf instead of run. That would take about four days longer than they had originally planned. He told Itachi to report that as well.

"What are they going to do with all those bodies?" Tenzou asked curiously. "Surely we can't take them back to the village?"

"They should be buried in the gardens." A meek voice whispered, barely audible. Kakashi looked over at the bed next to him, shocked to find the girl sitting up against the headboard staring back at them. She looked better than Kakashi had seen her the previous night. The old woman who owns this little inn is used to having battered ninja coming in and out of her residence, so she the second she saw them bring her in she volunteered to clean her up. Now that he could see her face without the grime and blood, he could take in her features. She had a pale, heart shaped face with a few freckles on her nose and cheeks, a small simple nose, and small pale pink lips. She had plain features that weren't as striking as Kurania's or as gorgeous as Iniochi's wife, but she was still pretty, especially her ever expressive doe eyes. Her hair also looked healthier, considering her long blonde locks were no longer matted with dried crimson.

It was Kakashi who first responded.

"Where are the gardens?" He asked gently.

"At the bottom of the hill, behind the compound." She said quietly, "It's where all of the Amhara clan members have been buried." Kakashi softened his gaze and looked over at Itachi.

"Could you put that into the report as well?"

"Hai."

Looking back at the girl she was nervously pulling at the standard black ANBU tank top that they had given the woman to dress her in. It was all they had, they couldn't put her back into those rags they had found her in, and even Itachi's, who was the smallest of the three of them, clothes were still too big for her tiny form.

She was nervous being in a room of unfamiliar men, even if they looked to be around the same age as her. Although she did feel slightly more comfortable with the fact they were no longer wearing masks. She knew that they were there to help her, but it was hard to overcome the voice in the back of her mind that told her not to trust because they looked just like _them._

"We'll be sure that they are buried properly." Kakashi said.

"Thank you." She said softly. Unsure of what to do next an awkward silence fell over the four. Itachi didn't much mind the lack of conversation for he was still constructing the letter to the Hokage. Kakashi cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck.

"So, uh, this is Tenzou," he said gesturing towards the brunette boy, then to the prodigy, "and Uchiha Itachi, and I'm Hatake Kakashi." She looked around nodding at each one of them in acknowledgment.

"It's nice to meet you all, I'm Amhara Tsoran." Kakashi's lips turned up slightly, _we already know who you are._ He gave her his signature crinkled eye smile.

"Nice to meet you too, Amhara-san. How do you feel? She didn't look like she was going to fall apart at the moment but he knew all too well to realize that her inner turmoil was boiling just right under the surface. Tsoran took a shaky breath and I thought she would burst right then and there. I wouldn't have blamed her. But instead she said something that they weren't quite expecting.

"All at once, and much too deeply." Was her insightful, yet offhanded sassy remark. Kakashi let out a nervous chuckle, while Itachi looked highly amused with her answer, well as amused as Itachi could look.

"Well, that's…something." Kakashi said with a small chuckle. The blonde had a hint of smile on her lips. Tsoran turned and gazed out the window. And an unreadable expression on her face. The three boys watched, waiting for her next move. It was a clouded afternoon, the snow was still coming down hard and all you could see was a big wall of white.

It reminded Kakashi of the first winter after Rin died. She loved the snow and everything that came with it. She used to force him and Obito out to the training ground to build snowmen and angels. He used to find it really annoying at how much she would beg and pull on them to get them to go with her, but now he would give anything to be able to face the cold and throw snowballs at his two friends. The memories felt like a kick to the gut.

He was brought out of his thoughts but a squeaking sound. Looking over he found that the heiress had gotten up out of bed and was wobbling over to the window on unsteady legs. She leaned against the wall and peered out, watching the little white flakes fly to the ground. Tsoran brought a small hand up to the fogged over glass and traced a circle in the condensated moisture, adding a two eyes and a large grin.

"When I was little my friend Anri-chan and I would run around the compound during the winter and make smiley faces like this one on the windows." She gave a small laugh. "We used to get into so much trouble by Katsuya, the head maid. She would catch us and scold us on how the grease on our little hands would leave unwanted marks once the fog went away. Then she'd make us wash the windows." She stared at the face she had made for a little while longer and began to rub her hands together.

"And now I wish that it was only grease I had to worry about being on my hands. And I wish that water could be used to wash everything away. And I wish that I didn't have to wish for such strange things."

Kakashi gave her a confused look, not understanding what she was talking about.

"What do you mean Amhara-san?" She turned back towards the silver haired man and raised her hands out in front of her.

"It's still there. Who ever tried to wash it off with water, it didn't work. _It's still there._" She said desperate for them to understand. The shot one another confused looks, was the stress getting to her?

"I mean I know it's not _really _there but I can still feel it, everywhere. In my hair, on my hands, my face, my legs. Everywhere!" Her eyes were pleading and scared again. She was on the verge of breaking. She abruptly turned back to the window and hurriedly wiped the drawing off of the window, leaving behind a smudge.

"What's everywhere?" Tenzou asked. Her eyes flashed to him and she slumped down onto the wooden floor.

"Their blood." She whispered as if she was afraid of her own answer. The three ninja stilled.

"It's my fault they all died. If I had given them what they wanted, they wouldn't have died." The tears were back, but none of them were brave enough to run down her cheeks, instead they stayed safe building up in her eyes. Survivor's guilt was to be expected. Kakashi got off the bed and kneeled in front of the girl.

"No, it's not your fault. Those men would have killed them whether or not you had given in." But Kakashi's words fell on deaf ears.

"But I should have protected them!" Tsoran shouted angrily. Kakashi's one eye widened, this was the first time she had spoken louder than a whisper. Her fists were clenched and her expression fierce.

"I should have fought harder, I-I should have killed them!" Angry tears made their way down her face.

"No, if you think you feel broken now, you can't even begin to imagine the guilt of killing someone." Kakashi argued bitterly.

"Doing evil and seeing evil being done but doing nothing about it, is the same thing." She replied scathingly. Her green eyes narrowed into angry slits; Kakashi bit back another sigh, one of the stages of grief is anger.

"No it's not." He said quietly. Tenzou and Itachi remained silent as they took in the scene unraveling in front of them. ANBU don't go on many rescue missions, mostly assassinations, so they didn't have much experience with the after effects of their job. Itachi was pretty young so seeing such emotion was strange for him, being around ninja most of the time; emotion isn't part of the deal. And Tenzou has never been good with other people's emotion to begin with.

Tsoran let out a frustrated huff and moved away from Kakashi. Without another word she opened up the door and rushed out.

"He-hey! Where are you going?" Kakashi yelled out after her, hustling to catch up. He told his other two team members that he'd handle it. Even though her muscles were still sore she had managed to make it to the staircase by the time Kakashi caught up.

"Where are you going?" He repeated, keeping in step with her.

"Kirigakure." She replied.

"The Land of Waves? Why?" Kakashi sputtered. She still had that angry look on her face, it made him uneasy because he was expecting her to do something rash.

"I've never been outside my clan's compound before and that's where I want to go." He was a little shocked at this statement that she's never been anywhere but chose to come back to it later.

"Ok well maybe another time, when people aren't trying to kidnap you." The girl scoffed and headed towards the door leading to outside. As they passed the front desk the old woman gave them an old look.

"People are always trying to do that Hatake-san." _Right._ He awkwardly rubbed the back of neck and gave her a crinkle eye smile.

"Yes, but maybe you can go once we make it back to the village first and talk to the Hokage." She stopped and met his eye, looking to be contemplating his suggestion.

"No." She turned and once again pushing open the doors and walking out into the snow. Tsoran wrapped her arms around her and her jaw clenched as the cold bit into her. She was only wearing that tank top and a spare pair of Itachi's training pants. Kakashi sighed and trudged after her. He gave up trying to convince her and instead just followed her around, she seemed determined to walk all the way to the Land of Waves, even if she was going in the wrong direction.

The snow began to come down harder and the young heiress slowed her pace. Her breathes were coming out in ragged little puffs and while her cheeks were red, her lips and extremities were blue. He let this go on for about twenty minutes or so before placing a hand on her shoulder. He knew that moving around made her feel better and less useless, it certainly had been that way for him, but he was a highly conditioned ANBU member he could take the extreme weather. However, she was a pampered heiress who had never left the confines of her comfortable home. She jumped slightly at his touch but stopped walking.

"We should go back this snow isn't going to let up." She looked up at him, her eyes had lost the anger and were back to that terrible lost expression. The uneasiness was creeping back up in Kakashi's stomach, this girl reminded him too much of himself. There was too much sadness and hurt and just plain brokenness in her. He didn't like it, not at all. Tsoran nodded and turned around to walk back to the inn, which was no longer in sight. When she stumbled through the snow Kakashi swiftly picked her up under her knees and brought her to his chest. It would be a big inconvenience if she got sick; they already had to delay their coming home by four days.

Tsoran looked up at him in surprise she hadn't expected him to do that for her. Of course her feet were numb and she was quite possibly freezing to death, but Konoha ANBU were known for their cold demeanor, compassion didn't really seem like their thing. _Maybe I'm walking too slowly, he's probably cold too. _She reasoned looking over his similar attire. She sighed, feeling guilty that she had impulsively run out into the storm unprepared and that he had come out after her.

"I'm sorry I drug you out here." Tsoran mumbled embarrassedly. If her blood wasn't already shunting away to her core to keep her warm, she would have blushed. Kakashi gave her a forced smile and waved off her apology giving her some spiel on how it's his duty or what not. It bothered her that he would attempt to be fake around her, but then again they didn't know each other so there wasn't any reason for him to be anything but.

Tsoran wasn't sure how she was supposed to act around the others either. She had always been around her clan members all her life, but now she was on her own. Of course she had met people from the outside, she had teachers and instructors and the occasional traveler. This was different though. Should she be fake with the people she meets? Like Hatake-san? She should operate with a defense mechanism already in place? _It would be easier to not let anyone else in. To isolate myself and close off everything that hurts. Like my heart._ She closed her eyes and took a deep steading breath.

_No I can't take the easy way out and give up. No matter how much it hurts I have to fight to get through. I have to fight. _

**So this is revised, I didn't like my original take on this so I'm redoing it. Hope you all like it. I apologize for grammar errors. Please review! Oh and her name is pronounced like (Soar)(rin), the t is silent like in Tsunade's name. Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

So i hope you like this next chapter, I know this isn't the best story so I appreciate you guys reading! Please leave comments so I know how I'm doing! Thank guy! Enjoy!

* * *

Despite Kakashi's wishes, Tsoran had caught a cold. He was a little annoyed to learn this when they woke up the next morning to her sneezing, much to her embarrassment. When they had returned to the inn Kakashi had made sure to bring her hot tea and made her sit in the warm bath water for at least an hour, but it still hadn't helped. Hopefully this didn't impair their travel time, Kakashi thought bitterly.

Around noon they had set out, bundled up in their white travel cloaks. Tsoran didn't have any broken bones or major wounds that couldn't be fixed with a simple bandaging job, but she was still covered in an array of blue and purple bruises and had some incredibly sore joints. But they had expected this and offered to carry her, but the young heiress was adamantly against it.

The snow had calmed down some, though it was still tumbling down in light flurries. Since they couldn't move as fast as they would have liked, they were sitting ducks. And if Kakashi was right about the leader of those rogue ninja still being out there, they could still be targeted. They also wanted to keep Tsoran away from prying eyes so they avoided large towns and covered her face with an ANBU mask. Tsoran grumbled a little bit about having to wear it, wondering how they could wear these things all the time and thinking how annoying it is. But she kept the comments to herself.

They walked on in a standard formation. Tenzou was leading and Itachi and Kakashi flanking the blonde Amhara. Kakashi was more than happy to walk in silence; he was more than ready for this mission to be over. He glanced at Tsoran through the corner of his eye, she was hugging herself tightly and her head was cast down focused at the bottom of Tenzou's cloak. He couldn't see her face but he could guess. It was odd to see someone so small dressed up like ANBU. She was short and barely made it to his shoulder, and she was very petite for her age, almost too fragile. It was almost stranger than seeing an eleven year Itachi covered in assassin's gear. It bothered him seeing someone who looked so breakable.

Tsoran's face heated up when she could feel Kakashi's gaze on her and it made her uneasy. His and Itachi's eyes made her feel uncomfortable, though it was probably the power in them that gave them the harsh feel, she knew about the Sharingan and to honest it frightened her. From what she had learned their visual prowess is one of the most intimidating bloodlines out there.

When she turned her head to look over at him he was watching a couple birds fly overhead. Her eyebrows knitted in confusion, she was sure she had noticed his gaze.

"Do you need something?" Kakashi asked with a smirk in his voice, turning his face back towards her. He knew she had caught him watching her, so he had looked away jut as she had turned. She sputtered a little and straightened. If he could see her face, he was positive she would be blushing, that made him smirk even more.

"Uh-um no, no nothing." She replied hastily, facing forward again, debating whether or not she had just imagined things.

Tsoran wrapped her arms around herself again, she's never hated the quiet so much before. Usually she would go out and explore the compound to be by herself without problem, but now being alone only left her to think too much.

The lack of distraction allowed her mind to wander back to her three days in captivity. It had all happened quickly, like most life changing events do. She had just gone out to meditate on the porch early in the morning when the warning bells began to chime. When she had made it out to the front gates she tried to protect her family and friends that were trying to escape. No one in the Amhara Clan has ever been trained to fight shinobi so it wasn't long before they were able to subdue her. It was pitiful and degrading.

All those people she was forced to watch die. All her friends, her family. Gone. And it was her fault. Hatake-san could tell her it wasn't but she knew it was. If she had gone against the grain and learned to fight like her older brother had suggested, they might still be alive. What was the point of having great chakra control if you don't use it to protect your loved ones? Every second of those three days Tsoran pleaded and begged and screamed for the masked ninja to leave them be and to let them live. But they only laughed and taunted her. And with each death she felt one more piece of her heart being torn out.

Kakashi watched as the girl to the right of him slowly succumbed to her thoughts. Her whole demeanor changed and she began to tremble. Sure it was cold outside, but that wasn't what caused her to shiver. The Copy Nin couldn't help but pity her, they were similar. Both had lost everything. He could've reached out to her, and at least distracted her from her inner battle. But that would mean connecting to her and that wasn't an option, the Copy Nin doesn't connect to people. And he didn't need some girl fawning over him just because he gave her some kind words in her time of need. It still hurt to watch though.

He was brought out of his thoughts by a sneeze followed by a stifled fit of coughs. Kakashi watched vaguely as Tenzou pulled out another jacket and wrapped her up in it over the cloak. She wasn't dying, but the snow definitely wasn't helping much. It was already starting to get dark so Kakashi called it for the night and they set up camp.

Tenzou constructed a half dome like structure that protected them from the snow and they set their packs inside. They couldn't start a fire because it would give away their position if the remaining rogue ninjas were still after them, so they huddled underneath the makeshift home. Itachi pulled out their sleeping bags and put them into place. When he handed one to Tsoran she declined saying they had already done enough for her but Itachi insisted she take it anyway. So the young heiress nestled down into the thermal bag.

Once they had settled down for the night, Tenzou closed off the dome and sealed them in. Kakashi cracked a few glow sticks, lighting everything up in a strange green. With an unspoken command the men slid their masks off, Tsoran followed suit and fumbled to untie the strings, laying the white porcelain mask gently onto the ground beside her.

Tenzou broke out a few protein bars and passed them out. They sat in relative silence for a while, nibbling on the tasteless food. The wood user looked over at Tsoran who was huddled underneath a pile of blankets and a sleeping bag. She looked a lot younger that he originally thought, with her wide curious eyes, and lithe body.

"Amhara-san how old are you?" Tenzou asked. Tsoran looked over at him, slightly shocked at him talking to her. Kakashi gave his teammate an odd look, he's never really been one for small talk but then again his people skills were getting better every day. But really, asking about her age? Don't women usually get offended at questions like that?

"Um, nineteen." She responded with a confused tone in her voice. Tenzou gave her his awkward, almost faked smile.

"You are only a little older than I am! And two years younger than Kakashi-sempai!" He exclaimed. And as an afterthought he added, "But you are much older than Itachi-san though, he's only thirteen." Tsoran gave the young ANBU member a surprised look but nodded unsure why the brunette boy was talking about this. Small talk didn't really seem like his thing.

"Uh, ha-hai?" She replied unsurely, taking glances at the other two ANBU members. Kakashi was barely paying attention, just chewing on his granola bar looking away from them. And Itachi had an eye brow quirked up ever so slightly at the conversation.

"What is your favorite color?" Tenzou questioned. Tsoran eyed him, _why is he asking me this? _

"Pink." Kakashi scoffed so quietly that only Itachi picked it up. Of course it would be pink, he thought.

"What do you do for fun?" _Seriously, enough with the twenty questions Tenzou! _Kakashi thought, annoyed with his teammates useless antics, shooting him a glare. There was no need to get close to this girl, as soon as they got back to the village she would be someone else's problem.

Tsoran sighed softly, she really wasn't up to playing the whole get-to-know-each-other-in-ten-minutes game. But she answered regardless.

"I like to sing." She answered quietly. The Amhara girl wasn't amazing at it or anything, but she greatly enjoyed it, it always had a nice calming effect on her.

Tenzou's curiosity wasn't because he was that interested in getting to know Tsoran-san, he was interested in testing out his new social skills that he's been picking up from his teammates and from watching others in the village. And this was the perfect time for him to use his skills to see if he is assimilating well enough into the normal every day culture.

"Could you sing for us?" At this question both Kakashi and Tsoran looked up at Tenzou. Kakashi was irritated that Tenzou kept up with these pointless antics; the silver haired nin huffed and laid down facing away from them.

Tsoran looked down at the ground, her mother had taught her most of the songs she knows. And now to even think of singing them with her mother…gone… she wasn't sure if she even could sing them. Plus she had never sung in front of strangers, only her family and her clan mates have heard her. She gently shook her head. Tenzou frowned slightly, _I guess I'm not as good at this 'friends' thing as I thought. I'll have to reevaluate. _

"Are you sure? Maybe participating in something familiar will help you feel better." He pressed. She let out a short, bitter chuckle.

"No it wouldn't." The blonde replied sadly, pulling at her pants awkwardly.

"But wh-"

"Tenzou, just drop it." Kakashi said harshly, cutting him off not bothering to turn around as he chided subordinate. The scowl on his face deepened. Tenzou nodded and suggested that he would take first watch, so that the Itachi and Kakashi could go to sleep.

"_I don't see what's the deal about these Amhara guys. I mean taking out a gennin would have been harder!" Loud, harsh laughter followed this. Suddenly a rough hand connected with my shoulder, shoving me to the ground. A sharp gasp escaped from me as something hard crushed into my ribs. My hands and feet were bound and there was still a blind fold over my now watery eyes._

"_I know! For the pay we're getting for this I was expecting, I don't know some sort of challenge. All those weak people screaming and running around, Gods it was annoying!" More laughter._

"_It was taking a boot to ants." Again, more sickening laughter. I knew exactly what they were talking; images of masked men taking kunai and swords and knives to the defenseless women and children, to my childhood friends, to my family filled my mind. And for the life of me, there was nothing I could do. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to block out everything._

"_Aw look, we made the bitch cry!" Is that what that is on my cheeks? I hadn't noticed, I thought I was just bleeding again, I thought dully._

"_Maybe we should try to make her feel better." I could hear the malicious intent in his voice and cringed. There were a couple lecherous chuckles and a hand was suddenly making its way over my thighs. My entire body tensed up in fear and took whatever energy I had and used it to throw myself in the opposite direction. But this only led me into the arms of someone else. _

_I started screaming and thrashing about, I had already lost too much to lose anymore. Calloused, dirty hands held down my shoulders and legs and I could feel someone hovering too close to me. I bucked and tried to knee them but then my legs were held down. There was more laughter, always that disgusting gut wrenching laughter. It was so loud it was pounding in my head. _

_I shrieked and cried and sobbed and screamed so loudly that my throat ran raw. A pair of hands rake down the sides of ribs, over the bruised spot, down my stomach were they rested on my hips. A pair of lips found their way to the corner of my jaw and jerked my head to the side, colliding savagely with the man's head. I ignored the throbbing pain in my skull and continued to scream and thrash._

_The man just cooed my name, like you would a small child or a lover, the sound of it made me feel ill._

"_Amharas-san." The man whispered. I didn't answer and tried to jerk away from him._

"_Amhara-san!" He shouted, I cringed at his tone and began to sob harder._

"Tsoran!" I was shook harshly and unexpectedly the blind fold was ripped off and I was faced to face with another masked man. He was too close to me so I lashed out and swung at him, not taking notice of the lack of restraints, his eyes widened as my fist made contact with his left cheek.

A hand came to rest of my shoulder, I quickly turned around to find Tenzou looking at me with his usual blank expression.

"Tsoran-san are you ok?" Tenzou asked. My chest heaved up and down with each sob and I brought a trembling hand to my face and felt warm tears. I blinked curiously at my dampened fingers to find tears not blood as I came to the realization that I had been dreaming. My shoulders slumped in a defeated manor as I tried to calm my heart, but it was no use I could still feel their hands on me, I could still hear their voices, their laughter.

I glanced frantically at Itachi who had a plain, but slightly worried and understanding expression.

"I need- I need some air." I choked out. Tenzou and Itachi shared a look, but I didn't have time for them, the walls felt like they were closing in on me and I felt like a trapped animal in a cage. I banged on the wooden wall almost desperately.

"Please! Please I can-can't be in here any longer!" I sobbed into my hand as I tried to muffle the horrid noise I was making. Hesitantly Tenzou made an opening and I rushed out, once again without any shoes or protective clothing. I could care less at that point. My stomach was about to give way.

It was still dark out but the snow had thankfully the snow was only coming down in soft flurries. Images of those three days flashed through my mind mercilessly and I only got about twenty feet away before what little I had in my stomach was thrown up onto the snow laden ground. I clutched onto the nearest tree as my whole body shuddered violently and continued to dry heave.

I knew that the Konoha nins were watching me but the fact barely registered in my mind. Once my stomach had settled I slid down the side of the tree sinking to my knees in exhaustion, holding onto the trunk like a lifeline. I couldn't tell if my body was shivering from the cold or if I was trembling from the aftermath of my dream.

I felt disgusting and dirty and useless. All of those people, my family, my friends all gone because of some naive belief we had on peace over violence. Well look were that got us! Dead, that's where it got all of them! Dead! Murdered!

"And it's my fault…" I mumbled to myself brokenly. I wanted to cry, my eyes stung like there were tears there, but they wouldn't fall. _Can you run out of tears?_ I thought with no curiosity at all.

When I was younger my older brother told me that I should learn how to fight from the ninja that would pass through the compound. Our clan's compound was open to all travelers, and ninja, whoever came by. Our clan was based on the ideal of peace and nonviolence so all kinds of people would come, not only to rest from their journey but also to see my clan's gift. Being able to manipulate chakra without hand signs is something ninjas would spends decades upon decades trying to reach, but here my clan is born with it and we don't do anything with it, except promote peace.

I spent most of those three days trying to understand how exactly we were promoting peace by sitting by idly and doing nothing. My mother and father were last people to have this gift besides me and when they died I was the only one in our entire clan to be left with it. I could have been trained to something useful and worthwhile, something that could benefit others. But all I've done in my years is study history and culture and learn how to grow the grass without hand signs with my amazing and almighty gift. Ridiculous.

We were supposed to be an example for everyone, of how living peacefully is the best way to live life and how those who remain neutral will always remain neutral. Well we sure as hell set some kind of example but I don't think it's what my ancestors were going for.

134. That's how many people lived on the compound, and I could name all of them. My cousin Mayura and her husband just had a baby boy. Grandmother had just celebrated her eight-first birthday. And now they were dead. It was a waste of life and it was beyond despicable, there's honestly no word that I can find to describe this that would be able to express the anger, frustration, guilt, and agony that's weighing me down.

At first I thought this was just some nightmare that I would wake up from. I still hoped that it was. But that wasn't reality, reality was that I had just watched my entire family be slain right before my eyes because I had to uphold some stupid belief in peace and neutrality. If I had given them what they wanted they would have used it for some stupid reason, I wouldn't know what it is though, they never saw fit to tell me. But did it matter if they told me or not? My family would have died regardless, I could sense it in their chakra that they had murderous intentions from the start.

The crunching of snow took me out of my thoughts and turned around to see Itachi coming towards me. I awkwardly pulled myself up and wrapped my hands around my middle trying to stop myself from shaking. When the Uchiha got close enough he handed me my cloak from earlier which I gratefully threw over my shoulders.

We stood there for a few moments without saying anything, much to my discomfort. I sneezed a couple times, I had almost forgotten about my cold, and using the cloak to dab my annoyingly runny nose. I stared at the snow while Itachi stood a couple feet away from me. When I looked up he had a kind expression in his dark eyes.

"This land is very beautiful at night, ne~" Itachi said glancing over at the snow laden forest. I appreciated that he didn't say anything about the obvious fact that I had been crying or the fact that I had woken everyone up because of a nightmare or the fact that I had thrown up, again in front of them. Or the fact that I had punched Kakashi-san. My cheeks flared red in embarrassment and I had the urge to cry again.

"It is." I replied in a small voice. I didn't trust my voice not to break if I spoke to loudly.

"A little chilly though, don't you think?" I sighed at his comment, what he really meant was, _we should go back_. I took in a shuddering breath and nodded. Itachi-san gave me a small smile and gestured for me to walk ahead of him. I trudged back to makeshift campsite and crawled in through the opening. Tenzou and Kakashi looked up when I came in and I felt that familiar sting of embarrassment. I self-consciously rubbed at the already dry tears and sat down on the sleeping bag.

Itachi came in right behind me and the only light was the dimming glow sticks and the soft moonlight coming in from the opening.

"I- I'm sorry for- for um…" I didn't really know how to finish that sentence so I trailed off and pulled at my pants nervously.

"It is ok Amhara-san we understand." Tenzou smiled reassuringly. I looked up at him and he seemed sincere, but with ninja it was always hard to tell.

"Kakashi-san I'm sorry I hit you. I-I thought you were, um one of those men." I said sadly.

Kakashi gazed at her, sure he had been surprised that she had struck him, but it wasn't a big deal. What had bugged him was the way she had been screaming and struggling. He knew what bad men were capable of, but it still sickened him to no end.

"It's no problem, I've had worse." He replied in a jaded way. She frowned at his response, apparently dissatisfied with his answer, but that wasn't of his concern.

"I didn't hurt you did I?" He would have laughed at the absurd question if it weren't for that damn kicked puppy look in her eye. He shook his head.

"Nope, I doubt you could." He said it only to assure her that he was fine and that she hadn't done any harm but his answer seemed to make her feel worse because she sighed heavily and she looked away.

"Figures." She mumbled sullenly. Kakashi didn't know why but he felt like he had messed up somehow and it didn't make any sense to him. Maybe it was just the familiar defeated slump in her shoulders that he knew all too well.

"Um, I think it bruised though." He added in an afterthought. He watched her eyes flicker to his face landing on the masked place where she had hit him.

"Would you like me to heal it? I know it's not much of anything but it's the least I can do." Kakashi kept his surprise of her being healer to himself and just shrugged his shoulders. He could care less if he had a bruise or not, it didn't bother him at all.

She shifted closer to the Copy Nin so she had a better angle. He could see the uncomfortableness in her, it was in her tense figure and in the way she chewed on her bottom lip. She slowly brought a hand up, careful not to make contact with his face and that telltale medical green glow lit up at the tips of her fingers.

Kakashi watched her with a critical eye and kept his sharingan one closed tightly. It only took her a few moments to heal his cheek and when she was done she quickly moved back to her sleeping bag. Tenzou then began to ask her questions about her medical training, which she said she was taught by a medic nin who had stayed with them for a few months. Kakashi rubbed his cheek in attempts to get the tingling that medical chakra always leave behind to go away.

Eventually Itachi checked out of the conversation and went to sleep, and Tsoran had grown tired of answering Tenzou relentless questioning so Kakashi suggested that they all get some rest while they still had a good three hours of night left. The wood user agreed dutifully and went to sleep while the silver haired nin took watch.

Kakashi sighed and ran a hand through his hair. This mission had been relatively easy in terms retrieving the Amhara heir, it was almost too easy. And even with the snow the journey wouldn't be too terrible. To be honest his problem with this mission was the blond girl sleeping across from him, or at least pretending to, she was awake from what he could tell. It wasn't that he didn't like her personally, he was sure she was a nice girl and all, but she reminded him too much of himself and it didn't sit well with him.

She reminded of him of his own pain and guilt and he hated that.

He frowned and rubbed his eyes tiredly. At least they were close to Konoha, then he could just dump her off on someone else and be done with this mission. This mission was taking its toll on him and they had only been on it for less than a week.

Kakashi let out a small sigh in relief as the Konoha gates came into view. He was glad to be back where he could change out of his damp clothes and get out of the cold weather. They couldn't come in through the normal entrance since they were with ANBU so they made their way to the hidden entrance around the North side of the village.

Tenzou took back the mask they had lent to Tsoran and her green eyes were filled with amazement as they entered the impressive ANBU compound. Her lips were set in a silent 'O'. They walked in relative silence with the occasional 'hello' from other ANBU members in passing.

Tsoran had a curious look on her face that almost erased the dark circles under eyes and took away the tired expression. Almost. The silver haired man knew she hadn't been sleeping ever since that night she woke up from her nightmare. So for the last couple nights she had forced herself to stay awake. It was a self-destructive tendency and from experience Kakashi knew she would crash eventually and it wouldn't be pleasant, but again, not his problem.

Once they stepped inside the Hokage's office Lord Third greeted the young heiress asked her questions like how she was, and uninteresting stuff like that. Kakashi had stopped paying attention, he had begun to daydream about a warm bath and maybe some takeout from that restaurant on his way home.

"-Kakashi will be willing." He perked up at his name and focused back on the conversation. He must have been out of it for longer than he thought, because four sets of eyes were staring at him as if waiting for a response. He let out a nervous chuckled and rubbed the back of neck.

"Gomen Hokage-sama what was the question." The old man grinned and leaned back in his chair.

"Nothing of importance Kakashi, I was just saying that Tsoran-san will be staying over in the Imperial Complex and that she would need some protective services being as there are still rogue ninja out there looking for her. And I was just wondering out loud if you would be willing to do so." Kakashi blanked, and although on the inside he was annoyed as hell that there could be a possibility of being stuck with this girl for longer than he thought necessary, he was visibly a stoic figure.

"I don't know if I'd be right for the job Hokage-sama, I'm not very good company and think that maybe Kurenia would be a better match for this." What he really meant was _no damn way do I want to be stuck following this little heiress around the village for an indefinite amount of time. _The Hokage smiled in return.

"I don't know what you mean Kakashi! You'd be perfect and besides Kurenia is out on a mission with Guy and Asuma. And isn't your apartment closer to the Imperial Complex than your comrades?" Kakashi frowned, in translation the Hokage was telling him in a passive aggressive way that this wasn't a request and that he had to do it. So Kakashi did what he did best and put on a fake cheerful facade and agreed with The Third. _I want to stab a kunai into my foot right now. _ He thought dully.

They were soon dismissed after the Amhara girl was given the next plan of action. She would be staying in the Imperial Complex which was where all the political guests stayed in when they came to Konoha. And as for money her clan had set aside funding for situations just like this when the attacks started a few years ago.

Itachi and Tenzou were released to go home and Kakashi was instructed to take Tsoran to the hospital for an evaluation. So Kakashi sat fuming in the waiting area while medics looked over his new 'charge'. He was pissed to say the least, all he had wanted was for the mission to be over and to get rid of the girl with the way to expression doe eyes and now work was following him home. But since when has that been a new thing?

He could never escape his missions, even when he was safe and in home and in bed he continued to relive his missions. Especially the ones that chipped away at his slowly deteriorating soul. It had started with Rin and Obito, and in his case most things did. He couldn't go anywhere or do anything without something reminding him of them. And this mission was no different than the others.

After about an hour and half Tsoran was given the all clear and came back out to the waiting area where Kakashi had pulled out his favorite little orange book. She walked over to him nervously pulling at the hem of the ANBU shirt she was still wearing.

"Um, they said I was ok to leave." She told him.

"Hn." Was all he gave as a reply, not even glancing up from his book.

"So do you-" She started but he cut her off by abruptly standing up and walking out the door.

"Oh, um ok." She hurried after him. He looked like he was walking at a leisurely pace in the lazy way he walked with that book shoved in his face but in actuality he was walking so fast she could barely keep up without jogging. She had never been in such a big city before with so many people, the sheer amount of chakra was smothering her and she wasn't used to moving around and through all of them. The young heir was having trouble keeping up with him and she was still sore so he couldn't really walk as fast as she wanted.

"Kakashi-san!" She called out when he was getting too far ahead. She accidentally bumped into someone and she immediately stopped to help pick up the basket full of apples that had fallen out of the woman's arms.

"Gomen!" She said quickly standing back up to find Kakashi. But she found that she could no longer see him. Tsoran sighed heavily and walked in the direction that she had previously seen him. The blonde tried to pin point his chakra but she wasn't yet used to the village amount of chakra so her senses were overstimulated so she had no idea where he went.

She knew he didn't like her much, but it was a little off putting that he would ditch her in an unfamiliar place knowing that she had no means of getting to where ever she was supposed to be going. She walked around aimlessly, cursing the stupid silver haired jerk under her breath. It's not like she asked for him to be in charge of her, she would rather have thirteen year old Itachi with her, at least he's courteous!

Tsoran covered her sneeze in the cloak and began to walk around in no specific direction. A headache was starting to pound into her head, most likely from being in a new place, so the blonde started heading away from the crowded market place and towards the huge cliff side with four huge carvings on it. She had heard about the monument before but it was much more impressive in person.

The young heiress smiled at the great mountain and settled down onto a bench. It was midafternoon and the snow was still relentless in the village like it was out of it. She felt like she was going to be permanently stuck in Itachi-san's ninja clothes and it wasn't the warmest attire, even with the cloak. Using her long hair as a source for warmth, she huddled on the bench tiredly.

The girl took a deep breath in and then blew out a stream of warmed air that instantly cloaked her in a shroud of heat. It was a simple chakra technique that was one of the firsts that she learned. You just take in air and use the chakra inside your lungs to warm the air, it just like the fire ball technique but on a much smaller scale.

She continued to do this every once in a while to keep herself warm. Tsoran didn't know she had fallen asleep until she was suddenly being woken up by someone kicking her shoe. She gasped and jerked awake only to find a lone eye staring back at her. All those sleepless nights must have been piling up on her.

"You ditched me!" She blurted out without much thought. Kakashi's eye narrowed at her.

"You couldn't keep up." He replied coolly. Tsoran's temper flared at this statement and stood up are crossed her arms. Kakashi held back a scoff at her poor attempt to be intimidating. He was more than a head taller than her and she looked like a breakable little doll, even in those baggy clothes.

She was right though, he had ditched her, not on purpose of course but he hadn't necessarily tried to keep up with her either. And by the time he realize that he should probably find her it was already sunset. The blonde was easy to find her chakra signature was very unique and very intense much like Minato-sensei's kid's. When he found her asleep on the bench in memorial park he felt a slight twinge of guilt at her blueing lips and shivering form.

"You should have been walking _with _me, not way ahead of me! I have no idea where I am, I've never left the compound before!" She scolded in exasperation with her green eyes set in a harsh glare.

"Why didn't you just locate me? Aren't you some sensory type?" He replied scathingly, annoyed at her ineptness. Tsoran's scowl deepened and made an indignant noise.

"Weren't you listening, I've never been outside of the compound which is pretty isolated, and considering I'm only a sensory type because my ability allows me to connect to natural chakra, I've kind on a sensory over load being around all these people!" She had been fighting off a head ache all day that was brought on by all this chakra and his jerk self was not helping at all.

Kakashi was annoyed with her, where was the meek and crying girl that had known for the last few days? Clearly she was thrown out the window by this loud one. He felt a little embarrassed that he hadn't considered the amount of chakra in the village as a factor in her ability to track him, thinking back on it, it seems obvious to him now. One of the reasons he didn't think twice about ditching her was that he knew she could find him, or at least he had assume so. He never made the actual decision to leave her behind, but then again he never made it a priority to make sure she was keeping up.

He was mad at her for being mad at him, but he didn't have a right to direct his anger towards her, she was a victim in this circumstance. It was the Hokage who paired them together, but being angry at him didn't help either. She sneezed again and he sighed and let his shoulders slump, maybe he had been a little mean by leaving her out in the cold while she was sick. Even though that was her own fault for catching a cold.

"Do you want to get to your apartment or what?" He drawled out. The girl standing in front of him huffed out in frustration and pushed her long locks behind her back.

"Yes, I do." He gave no vocal response but he walked away from her, but this time at a much slower pace. Tsoran sneezed once again and followed after him.

When Kakashi was finally able to go home he slumped down onto the couch and pulled down his mask. To be honest he hated his mask, but he couldn't go on without it. He had always disliked it, it was stifling and irritating but if he didn't wear it then he wouldn't know how to function. It was sad really, he was such a highly skilled shinobi but a simple thing like a mask bugged him so much.

"_I can't say I'm surprised that you wear a mask under that ANBU one of yours." Kakashi's eyebrow quirked up._

"_Oh really?" _

"_Yeah, you seem like you got a lot going on in that head of yours that you don't want others to see." Kakashi brought his gaze over to the blonde girl beside him, she met his eye and shrugged her shoulders continuing on in her exploration of the apartment, opening up the door to another room. _

"_It's not a bad idea. If I looked good in masks I might consider wearing them too." She said in a matter of fact way. Kakashi gave her an odd, quizzical look and stayed in the kitchen while she walked around the place. _

He had wanted to ask if she had a lot going on in her head too, but he already knew the answer, and asking it would be pointless and continue on a conversation he didn't want to start to begin with. Although it was an interesting thing for her to say, many people had said that he was hiding behind the mask, that wasn't a unique idea, but the way she had said it was strange. Maybe he was just thinking too hard about it.

Before he left her house for the night he made sure to set up ground rules like she can't leave the apartment unless he knows and she just can't leave whenever she wants to because he has his own life as well and can't cater to her every whim. She had scoffed at this but agreed none the less. He had also made sure to set up seals on her apartment, that way he would know if people left or came in.

He wasn't sure how long this was going to last but he was willing to bet he was in for the long haul. If anything he knew they would have to spend the next day together because she couldn't keep wearing that one pair of Itachi's clothes forever, and surely the two of the would have to eat. This was going to be a majorly troublesome ordeal. He could tell.

* * *

Thanks for reading I hope you guys liked the chapter! Please excuse typos and bad grammar and such I apologize them now 0_0 I don't know when I'll update I'm pretty bad about it I guess :/ I will try to get it out asap though! So what are your thoughts? Is it terrible, awesome, meh? Anyways please review!


	3. Chapter 3

**So this is coming together slowly, sorry 'bout that. I really hope you all enjoy this, if you have any comments, concerns or whatever everything is welcomed! Except mean and vulgar comments… Anyway please read and review!**

It was barely even a week that passed by before the word of the last Amhara was living in Konoha. This, in Kakashi's perspective, was _very _annoying. Now, two weeks later, when he walked around the streets he had a permanent scowl on his face.

It's not that the girl was annoying per say, it was more of the hype that seemed to follow her now that was bothering him. Once the clan heads in Konoha had heard she was now living in the village, it had become the talk of the town. The elders were always looking for eligible suitors to marry into their clans, so it was only natural for them to be competing for the 'new meat'.

It felt like every corner Kakashi and Tsoran turned there were young Inuzuka boys grinning at them, Hyuugas silently stealing glances, or Uchiha's smirking at her knowingly. And of course the civilians _love_ to gossip about this kind of stuff. There were people coming up to talk to her left and right, asking all kinds of questions without much tact or sensitivity in order to bring excitement to their bland civilian lives.

It pissed him off.

Especially since he was left to deal with the aftermath, i.e. Tsoran who liked to express what she thought about the nosy women in Konoha. And he had to be on full alert constantly so that they could move through the streets without much problem. This 'mission' had become more troublesome than he originally thought it would be.

He gave a bitter chuckle as he took note that this was probably why the Hokage placed him in charge of Tsoran, because he knew that people would flock to her. But people in the village also tended to avoid him, so they would be less likely to approach her as long as she was with them. It was like giving a child a torch to keep the wolves away. He shook his head at how the Hokage's mind worked.

"Kakashi, my dear friend, did you hear me!?" Kakashi sighed and rolled his head to look back over to his eternal rival. He gave him an eye crinkle.

"I'm sorry? I was thinking about how I helped an elderly woman cross the street this morning on my way over to Tsoran-san's." He said falsely with a cheery voice. He and Tsoran had been on their way to hospital. The Amhara's ribs which were still bothering her and although she knew how to heal, she could only do mild abrasions and cuts. This is when they had run into Guy who had just returned from his mission.

And like with most situations the green clad man was _uber_ excited about his new 'youthful' and 'jubilant' friend. Then he proceeded to engage her in a full on conversation, which, of course, was energetic and demanding. At first, the silver haired man had been a little wary that the girl would react negatively to the overzealous ninja, but she immediately responded with enthusiasm, though it wasn't at the same extreme level as Guy's.

She didn't seem sad, and Kakashi was well versed with sad (a huge understatement). Yet sometimes when he would check up on her at night and he could tell she had been crying. But she never even batted an eye when the therapist started asking questions, so he was told. He had to go with her to these weekly sessions but he wasn't allowed to sit in on them. But the therapist would tell him about any red flags she saw in order to keep him in the loop on his charge.

The blonde girl acted happy from what he could tell, always smiling and laughing. He didn't know her well enough to be able to tell if it was fake or not, but he had the feeling that it was. This could be how she copes. But even with her care free attitude the deep circles under her eyes were enough to let him know that she wasn't sleeping.

He tried to ignore it though; his job was to keep her safe from rogue ninja and the irritating whims of the village clans. It was not his job however to become involved in her personal life.

Guy let out a hearty laugh and slapped Kakashi on the back.

"I challenged you to a race around our great village my young friend!" Guy exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air dramatically and donning a winning smile. He placed his fists on his hips and leaning in closer to Kakashi's face, earning a nervous expression from the Copy Nin.

"Don't you have to meet up with Asuma and Kurenia and check in with the Hokage?" He answered smoothly. Guy straightened and looked surprised for moment but then laughed and scratched the back of his head.

"How could I forget? Your youthfulness and Tsoran-chan's radiance has lead me to forget my teammates! How silly of me! I must be off then!" He bent down and scooped up his bag that he dropped in excitement when he crashed into Kakashi originally when he first saw them in the street.

Sure Kakashi could brush off Guy now, but no doubt he would be back for another round of their rival frivolity.

"It was very nice to meet you Tsoran-chan! Have a magnificent day my friends!" And with that he took off, leaving behind a literal trail of dust.

"Nice to meet you too." Tsoran said with a smile, knowing full well that he was too far away to hear her response. She smoothed down her waist length hair allowing it to fall back in its stick straight position; the gust of wind Guy had created had tossed her hair into disarray.

Kakashi had taken her to the clothing district in the village earlier on in her stay so Tsoran ,thankfully, had been able to wear her own clothes instead of Itachi's standard ninja uniform. With the snow settling in for the winter, she had opted for simple black pants that tucked into equally black boots and a grey coat that was zipped up over a deep blue sweater.

Since then Kakashi had been forced to accompany her to various meetings with the village elders to discuss the details of her stay. She would continue to live in her apartment, with Kakashi as her 'guard' for however long they saw fit. They had also discussed all the financial mumbo jumbo, that Kakashi found extremely boring. And the elders new favorite topic, her future.

Would she go to school to learn a trade? Would she work at all? Would she train to hone her skills? And the _most important _topic of all, what clan should she marry into? Kakashi wasn't well versed in clan traditions but he knew that they liked to have their clan heads' futures set in stone they liked that security. It was all very political.

They never outright said that they were attempting to find her a match, no they were beginning to talk about dinners and parties and such with the clan heads. To Kakashi it all seemed too soon to be discussing marriage when she had just lost every person she had ever known, but Tsoran took it in stride, like it didn't bother her in the slightest.

He looked down at the girl beside him, from an outsider's point of view she looked like a happy heiress who was enjoying a walk with her guard. She had a simple smile playing on her pale lips, and her cheeks were rosy from the cold with her jade eyes lit up. She walked with ease, like there was nothing holding her down.

The man had to admit, she was a pretty girl and with her gold hair whipping around her lithe form he couldn't help but admire the sight. And it a picture like that normally would bring a smug smile to his face, but he knew it was faked. He knew what she was like on the inside, and it wasn't all smiles and rainbows like she was on the outside.

Kakashi looked away, a scowl formed again on his face again and he shoved his hands in his pockets. After he had lost Rin, he was the same way. Well not exactly the same, instead of putting on a smile like Tsoran, he closed himself off and ignored everyone. And he wasn't sure which coping mechanism was worse.

"Kakashi-san your friend is a very happy person." Tsoran stated as they resumed their walk to the hospital.

"Ah."

"Are all of your friends that energetic?" She questioned, trying to sneak a peek at his face, but he turned his head to 'examine' a flower cart that they passed.

"Ah."

"Are they to balance out your laziness?" The blonde was hoping this would silicate some sort of response longer than a single syllable, but he didn't even seem to paying her any attention. But that wasn't anything new. He hardly ever spoke to her, unless to tell her the Hokage or the elders requested her. She knew he didn't like her, but she was baffled as to why.

"Hn." A frown worked its way on her face and she sighed.

"I'm thinking of cutting off my hair, dying it blue and becoming a porn star if this whole heiress thing doesn't out. Know any good strip clubs?" The girl added as casually as you would if you were talking about cereal. The man sputtered and gave her a bewildered look.

"Wh-what!?" She held back a giggle that was working its way up at his comically widened eye.

"Oh, so you were listening." She replied, trying her best to keep her face plain, but her eyes were a light with amusement. Kakashi awkwardly scratched the back of his neck.

"Well, I-er, I was." This was one of those times that he showed actual emotion in front of her that wasn't irritation or indifference. She was pleased that she had been able to exact some emotion from him, it was definitely a rare occurrence. Small victories.

"Kakashi-san why do you dislike me?" Tsoran asked suddenly, without breaking her stride. Kakashi's eye brows rose at this. She had proven herself to be blunt before, but even so he still hadn't expected her to call him out like that. He kept pace with her steady steps and studied her for a moment. They had never talked much, but he had wanted it to be that way. He kept her an arms-length and usually she would carry on a two person conversation by herself.

She started back at him with an earnest expression and he frowned again, a habit that he briefly made a note to try to fix.

"…I don't dislike you, Amhara-san." The sharingan user stated carefully. She scoffed and kicked an empty ramen carton.

"Kakashi-san I'm asking an honest question and I would like an honest answer. I won't judge you." Tsoran walked ahead of him and stopped, blocking his path. He could have easily gone around her, but he didn't bother. He met her determined gaze but kept his resolve to not open up.

"I told you, I don't dislike you. I think you're wonderful" He put on his signature crinkle smile and threw his hand up in defeat. The ANBU refused to shrink under her scrutinizing eyes and he kept up the act while she searched the little of his face that she could see before spinning slowly on her heel and continuing on walking ahead.

"You're a terrible liar Hatake Kakashi, did you know that?" She threw this comment over her shoulder nonchalantly. It unnerved him.

She was always saying uncomfortable truths like this. The girl definitely had a knack for seeing through falsities and masks; it was not only frustrating but it also made Kakashi anxious. He was known for his ability to shut people out and keep everything in successfully. But it didn't matter when he was around Tsoran because she seemed to know what he was truly thinking anyway.

There were times when he was positive that she knew he was blatantly lying to her face, and yet she hardly ever pushed him to tell the truth. She just gave him this look and dropped the topic.

But even though they both knew he was lying, he never bothered with the truth.

When they checked in at the hospital, a pretty brunette nurse led them into one of the exam rooms. Tsoran hopped up on the counter like she had the last time they were here for her one week check up and Kakashi slumped into a chair.

"So it says here that your ribs are still bothering you Amhara-san?" The nurse asked reading of her clip board. She was a civilian nurse, you could tell by the blue scrubs she had on, the medical ninja usually wore the standard gray.

"Hai, uh…"

"You can call me Katsuri." The brown haired woman said with a smile.

"Hai, Katsuri-san!" Tsoran replied, returning the smile. Katsuri-san was pretty, Tsoran conceded. She had thick, glossy brown hair pulled into a ponytail and she had nice clear skin.

"Well we can start by taking a look-see at them, why don't you," The nurse bent down and plucked a thin polka dot gown out from under the counter, "put this on and we can get started."

"Sounds good." The Amhara said taking hold of the gown and stepping back onto the floor.

Kakashi had never really been one for modesty, a weird thing to say considering he _always_ wore a mask, so he made no attempt to move from his seat. He just patiently sat in his chair reading over _Icha Icha_.

It wasn't until Katsumi cleared her throat that Kakashi looked up and noticed the expectant gazes of the two girls occupying the room. He glanced over at Tsoran and raised his eye brow.

"You haven't changed yet." To this she snorted and put her hands on her hips.

"Not with you in the room I won't."

"I have no problem with it." He said and brought his attention back to his book.

"Kakashi-san?" Tsoran asked, drawling out his name.

"Yes?" He replied just as slowly.

"Get out." She demanded solidly. The Copy Nin sighed and stood up from his chair, making sure to do so in an extremely low manner.

"I don't know why you're being bashful Amhara-san, I've seen it all before." Kakashi added slyly as he slipped out the door. He smirked as he heard her make an indignant remark before promptly shutting the door on him abruptly. It was just too easy to tease her.

Tsoran shook her head at him, he was one of the most infuriating people she has ever known. He seems to thrive on putting off others. He was an expert on how to push people's buttons.

"So he's…uh nice." Katsuri said once Kakashi had walked out. Tsoran gave a short laugh as she unbuttoned her coat and stripped of her sweater.

"That man is many things and I don't think 'nice' necessarily describes him." The nurse chuckled and folded Tsoran's sweater, placing it on the counter.

"So how does that whole thing work, if you don't mind me asking?" The blonde sat down in Kakashi's chair and unzipped her boots.

"How does what work? The whole Kakashi-san being my keeper?" The brunette nurse nodded enthusiastically.

"It's not as glamorous as all the gossip girls in the village are making it sound." She started, "I can't go anywhere without him, literally I can't even walk out the door on my own." Tsoran scoffed lightly at this and shook her head, "It's pretty frustrating and I know Kakashi-san hates it. He strikes me as a lone wolf kind guy, so this probably rates pretty low on his totem pole of fun-things-to-do."

"So you must spend a lot of time with him then." The heiress looked up, the woman's voice had an underlying suggestive tone and from the amused expression on her face Tsoran had an idea of where this was going.

"Not really, he usually has a lot of his own stuff to take care of. The only time I ever see him is when I have to talk to the Hokage or the elders, or when I come here." She shrugged, and pulled off her pants leaving her in only her bra and underwear. "Sometimes we go grocery shopping." The nurse frowned with a slight pout to her lips.

"That's no fun! So you just sit at home all day?" Tsoran nodded as she pulled the gown over her head. She bit back a sigh, she knew that the nurse meant well but what the brunette said rubbed her the wrong way.

Her stay wasn't _supposed _to be 'fun', the only reason she was in the village was because her life was turned upside down and she lost her entire family. Tsoran had to work to smother the bitter feelings that were working their way up.

"Kakashi-san you can come in!" The blonde shouted through the door. The door opened up and the silver haired man strolled back in and slouched back onto the chair. He had to stop himself from groaning when he came in. He might not like being around the Amhara but he was a guy after all, and that thin hospital gown only reached about mid-thigh, showing off a generous amount of leg.

This was one of those moments when he cursed and thanked the Hokage.

Kakashi drug his eyes away from her and automatically reached for the book in his pocket. He wasn't really reading it though, he hardly ever did, it was just his defense to keep people from interacting with him too much.

He was always being reprimanded by someone for reading his 'porn' in public, but the truth was he hardly ever really read it anymore. The Copy Nin just turned the pages every once in a while to simulate reading. And he especially wasn't going to read it now with Tsoran in the room.

However, he was amused by the annoyed glances that the two women were giving him.

A soft hiss brought his attention back to his charge who was laying down on a gurney, with the nurse pressing on her ribs.

"Gomen." Katsuri murmured as she continued on with the exam. Tsoran's face scrunched in a wince but didn't make another sound. After a few more pokes and prods the nurse moved away and began writing on her clipboard.

"When you first came to the village did the medics who checked you out notice any bruising on your ribs?"

"They did and they healed them." Katsuri nodded and marked something down.

"But did they heal the ribs themselves, not just the bruises?" Tsoran shrugged.

"Well there isn't any record of you having broken ribs, but you clearly do. Weren't you in any pain, I mean obviously you are now or you wouldn't have come back?" Kakashi gave Tsoran a skeptical look; she hadn't said anything to him before yesterday about it. He hadn't even seen her wince once.

"I guess I hadn't noticed at the time." She replied.

"You didn't notice you have broken ribs?" Kakashi asked dryly, with an unbelieving expression on his face. Tsoran stared down at her hands, flustered.

"My whole body was still sore from…my captivity, so the pain wasn't anything new. I didn't think much of it." The green eyed girl shrugged casually like it wasn't a big deal. But Kakashi caught the slight aggrieved emotion that passed through her eyes.

The nurse was silent for a moment, trying to think of something to say to that admonition. She nervously glanced at Tsoran before clapping her hands together.

"Ok, so uh, I'm going to find a medic nin to heal you up and then you should be good to go." She smiled at Tsoran and headed for the door.

"Thanks for your help, Katsumi-san." The blonde said returning the smile.

Once the nurse was gone, Kakashi looked over to Tsoran who was now sitting up with her legs dangling over the edge of the hospital bed.

"You should have said something sooner if you were in pain." He scolded.

"I'm already burdening you enough as it is, I didn't want to bother you." She said honestly, causing Kakashi to frown. Did he really give off such a cold hearted disposition? If she was genuinely hurt, he wouldn't say no to walking her to hospital. Sure it was annoying, but he would still do it.

"Tsoran-san it's my job to watch over you, you're not a burden." He replied smoothly, flashing her an eye crinkle smile. But while he smiled, she frowned. A doubtful look crossed her face.

"But I am a bother." She pointed out. At this Kakashi's face fell and dropped into a nervous one. This was one of those uncomfortable truths. He couldn't agree with her because that would be rude, and if he pissed off the heiress the Hokage probably wouldn't be happy. But if he lied, she would know anyway.

Kakashi was saved from answering when medic nin knocked and appeared in the doorway. He let out a relieved sigh and relaxed.

He watched in silence as Tsoran rolled back onto her right side so that the medic could heal her. Kakashi huffed and turned to face the other wall so as not to look at her. That hospital gown was really going to be the death of him.

"Alright Amhara-san, that should be it." The young medic said as the green glow on his hands dimmed and pittered out a few minutes later.

Tsoran sat back up and thanked the man before he left the room. Then she ushered Kakashi so she could change, and this time he made no argument and quickly left the room.

He decided to make his way to waiting area, instead of hanging around outside of the door. When he rounded the corner a sudden surge in chakra caused him to turn around. A puff of smoke cleared and showed a familiar white ANBU mask.

"Kakashi-san." The ANBU said with a slight dip of the head in a greeting. The Copy Nin nodded back, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Hokage-sama sent me to retrieve you and the Amhara girl."

"Alright, thanks." Kakashi made to turn.

"He also said that he didn't wish to wait too long." The ANBU added. Kakashi smirked but nodded anyway and the ANBU disappeared in another cloud of smoke.

When Tsoran came back out to waiting room, fully dressed, they headed over to Hokage tower. And the second they entered the room, Kakashi knew something was up. He narrowed his visible eye, Itachi was standing in front of the Hokage' desk in traditional Uchiha garb.

"Hokage-sama." Kakashi greeted with a short bow. "Itachi-san."

Itachi nodded his head towards his senpai, and turned towards the only female in the room.

"Hello Tsoran-san it is good to see you again." The young Uchiha said giving her a small smile. She smiled widely, showing her teeth. Even though Itachi was intimidating, she still liked the kid. He was always kind to her, albeit they had only spoken a few times.

"It's good to see you too Itachi-san!" She said brightly. "And you as well Hokage-sama." The girl added sheepishly.

Sarutobi grinned and welcomed the two and asked them all to sit down.

"It's been a couple days since I've seen you Tsoran-san, how are you?" The Hokage started. The Amhara girl shifted in her seat and messed with her coat sleeves.

"Do you want the brutal truth? Or is this just an obligatory conversation starter?" Kakashi stopped himself from rolling his eyes, why must she always do this? What had he said about uncomfortable truths earlier?

But it didn't annoy the Hokage like it did Kakashi. Sarutobi laughed heartily, he enjoyed the girl's blunt nature it was refreshing especially since he worked with people who lied for a living.

"I suppose it was obligatory!" The old man said with a chuckle, "But now in all honesty how are you Tsoran? I'm sure the transition hasn't been easy." He rested his chin on his folded hands and gave her an earnest look.

A small smile formed on her lips, even though they only talked during serious situations he made her feel comfortable, or at least as comfortable as one could when having weighty conversations.

"I'm ok. It is a very hard transition and that's putting it lightly." She sighed and ran a delicate hand over her face. She allowed her small shoulders to slump allowing them to see how sad and just worn down she looked.

He knew she had been putting on a show in front of everyone, and it surprised him just how easily she opened up to the Third. Maybe it was because he was the Hokage and she felt like he was a confidant of sorts? Or maybe it was because he had genuinely asked her to do so? Either way, this Tsoran reminded him of the girl he had first met.

Perhaps she had been there all along; she was just good at hiding it like him.

"It sucks Hokage-sama. The world used to seem colorful and full of life, but now everything just seems grey and lonely." All three men, yes even young Itachi should be counted as such, had their attention on her. They knew exactly what she meant because they had all been there at one time or another. Some were still there.

"It's a pitiful way to live life, but I'm probably preaching to the choir here." A humorless laugh left her pink lips. Sarutobi looked at her with saddened eyes; it never sat well with him how such tortured souls could reside in such young people.

"No one should have to lose ever body they love like that." She whispered dolefully. Her gaze held the Hokage's bravely, but Kakashi noticed the tremble in her lips and the strain in her hands.

Tsoran took a deep breath and shut her eyes, and then slowly released it. She counted to ten before revealing her beryl eyes again.

"But that's not why we're here." She straightened in her seat and no longer appeared to be on the verge of cracking. Sarutobi studied her for a while longer before nodding and leaning back.

"You're right. Itachi-san has come with a question for you Tsoran-san." The white haired man gestured to the Uchiha sitting to the right of her. Itachi stood and faced Tsoran.

"Amhara-san," He started with a bow, "The Uchiha Clan would be honored if you would accept our invitation to join our council and a few select members for a dinner tomorrow evening."

_And so it begins_, Kakashi thought aridly. They were all aware that the clans would start to act on their intentions to claim the Amhara as their own. The elders had been talking about it when they last met. But it was a little chilling how fast they had started on their plans.

Tsoran stared at Itachi in surprise, _that's what this was about? _She glanced back at Kakashi for his input but he shrugged his shoulders unhelpfully. She turned back to Itachi who was still in a bow, waiting for her response.

"Um, I- sure, yes I guess I'll go." The blonde said awkwardly, she coughed once. "I accept the invitation the Uchiha Clan has presented." She restated dutifully, that was the proper way to accept another clan's proposition, she was so thrown off by the request that she almost forgot the response. It was a stiff response, but then again these matters usually were.

Itachi straightened and smiled at her.

"I am glad you will attend." He said warmly. For being only thirteen Itachi had undeniable charm, _he's bound to be a heart breaker_, Tsoran thought.

"Of course Itachi-san! I only agreed because _you_ asked, if anyone else had asked I would've rejected the offer." Itachi smirked at her claim, he knew she was teasing and it amused him. Most people didn't tease him, maybe his mother and Shisui, but other people tended to be reverent towards him.

"Really and why is that Tsoran-san?"

"Because you're just so adorable and charming who could resist your face." She said sweetly, batting her eyes in a girlish manner. At this Kakashi rolled his eyes, they were being ridiculous. But the banter set the Hokage at ease.

Itachi scowled at the word 'adorable' but was still pleased that she had agreed so easily. He wasn't one to beg, but his father would not have taken 'no' for an answer.

"There is one other thing," He paused and reached for a box that was off to the side. She hadn't noticed it before she realized vaguely. "My mother made a comment that you probably haven't had time to acquire a traditional kimono yet. So she took it upon herself to provide you with one."

Tsoran took hold of the box and undid the string holding it together. Carefully, she pulled out a blood red kimono and a matching dark blue obi.

"I can't accept this Itachi-san." She said as she folded the silk clothing back in the package. It was beautiful, of course, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was the glaring Uchiha symbol sown onto the back. Itachi kept a frown from forming on his face

Kakashi had to admit, it had been a nice plan, sneaky and backhanded. Very Uchiha of them. He couldn't help but smirk at their attempt, and they had sent Itachi to do their dirty work since he knew her already.

Tsoran couldn't very well walk around the village with the Uchiha clan symbol on her back, which would be like wearing a giant neon sign that said she chose to join their clan.

"Tsoran-san I insist that you accept this gift. We mean nothing by it, we simply wish to supply you something suitable to wear for the evening. You can return it the next day if you so desire."

"I trust _you _Itachi and I know you are just doing as you were asked. But you know it would be improper and for lack of a better word, _scandalous._" Itachi nodded and internally sighed. It was a long shot to begin with, he wasn't sure what his father was thinking but he must not be thinking clearly if he assumed that the Amhara heir would just agree to slap on another clan's symbol.

"I understand." He took back the box and rewrapped it. "Kakashi-senpia you are invited as well. I know that seems a bit obvious, but I assumed you would still appreciate an invitation." Well his father would be pleased that she was coming, but Itachi knew he was going to get an earful about the kimono.

The next day Kakashi dropped by Tsoran's apartment briefly to give her Kurenia's old light yellow kimono that would surely fit the smaller girl and traditional sandals before heading back out and leaving her in her apartment saying he'd be back at six to escort her to the compound.

Tsoran spent the afternoon mentally preparing herself for the onslaught that was about to happen. She had been to other 'dinners' with clans from other villages, and a couple times she had been invited to a Daimyo's palace. And none of them had been the most pleasant experiences.

These dinners were a combination of a beauty pageant, a talent show, a matchmaker session, and dinner was thrown somewhere in the mix. And so when the time came to get ready, Tsoran found herself dragging her heels into the ground.

Of course she wasn't happy about the fact that she was about to go through one of the longest nights in her life, but this was also the first time she had gotten ready for one of these things alone. Her family had always been there every step of the way, but that wouldn't be the case from here on out.

And so that's how Kakashi found her, an hour before they had to be at the Uchiha compound, staring in the mirror with tear tracks down her cheeks.

She hadn't answered the door so he just let himself in, and she didn't answer when he called out. This annoyed Kakashi, he knew for a fact that she hadn't left the house so whatever her reason was for ignoring him, it was irritating.

She had seemed fine this morning. But then again he never knew with her. Tsoran put on a brave face when they were out and about but when she was at home it was more accurate to flip a coin to determine her mood than it would be to look her in the face and guess.

Kakashi was an expert in masks, given that he wears one every day, but hers was different and had little consistency.

_Typical woman, _Kakashi thought dryly.

It still surprised him, however, to see her standing in the tiny bathroom in nothing but her bath robe. She looked like she was having a staring contest with herself in the mirror giving the intensity in her eyes and white knuckled grip she had on the counter top.

Her hair was secured in a nice bun by a decorative pin but that was about it. No makeup, no shoes, no real clothes.

"Amhara-san is there a reason you're just staring at yourself?" Kakashi asked instead of focusing on the fact that she was probably _only_ wearing her bath robe. Tsoran didn't flinch at his voice, although she had no idea that he was in her apartment. She simply turned in his direction and shrugged.

"I was having a pity party." She admitted honestly. "You're welcome to join in if you like."

It was uncomfortable the way all the life in her usually bright green eyes looked dead. Pushing the uneasiness away Kakashi glanced behind her into her room. He could see the kimono strung up on a hanger.

"Maybe another time," He told her with an eye crinkle," but right now you should probably get ready."

Tsoran blinked a few times as if just realizing that she had some where to be. She took in Kakashi's appearance and found him wearing a formal grey haori and hakama that was a darker shade than his hair.

"You look very handsome Kakashi-san." Tsoran said sincerely.

"Oh, ah thanks." The Copy Nin replied gracelessly, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. He swears she just makes these comments to be off putting. That or she is incurably honest.

Looking back at the mirror, Tsoran gave a sigh in dismay.

"I look awful." She said with one side of her mouth quirked up in a partially amused way. Kakashi wasn't sure what she found entertaining in her red face and puffy eyes.

"I suppose I should quite being a brat and try to get presentable." Tsoran pushed off the counter and trudged back to her room. She came back out a short time later dressed in the yellow kimono and a light sheen of makeup.

Surprisingly, they made it to the Uchiha compound on time, albeit a couple minutes late, but this was Kakashi and they were lucky the two came at all.

Tsoran was relieved when Itachi greeted them at the entrance. It made her feel better that she knew at least two people here, even though the Uchiha prodigy may become family in the future. She hoped that he hadn't gotten in too much trouble for being able to persuade her to wear the Uchiha's kimono. But Itachi swore that it was of no consequence. He was a better liar than Kakashi.

The Uchiha compound was much different than the village; in fact it looked like it was a separate village all on its own. There was a market place, a meeting center, a post office and their own clinic. They could probably be self-sufficient if they wanted.

Itachi said it would only be a gathering of the elders, Itachi's family, and a few select members of the community. No big deal, she could handle a couple old fuddy duddys and Itachi's parents. Yeah.

"You look very nice Tsoran-san." Itachi commented before they entered this big palace like building. "Do not worry about impressing my clan, if anything they should try their hardest to impress you."

Tsoran smiled at him, appreciating how he tried to put her at ease, it was something she really liked about him. Even though he was younger, Itachi always was the one to come off as more mature.

The second they entered Tsoran's senses were overrun by blues and reds, the Uchiha Clan symbol and several pairs of intense piercing black eyes. She felt the dark aura that was emanating off of them. But they weren't focused on her, they were watching Kakashi. The Amhara girl hadn't been aware of any bad blood between them but it was pretty obvious now.

"Amhara-san, it is a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for accepting our invitation." One tall man dressed in a dark blue haori said deeply removing his gaze from the silver haired man standing beside her. The man gave a slight bow of his head. "I am Uchiha Fugaku, head of the Uchiha clan."

"It is nice to meet you as well Uchiha-san." Tsoran replied steadily, bowing to the clan head. The impression she got from his was cold and powerful. And intimidating. She was then introduced to their five elders; they were four men and one woman. All greyed and wrinkled and held a critical gaze.

No one made any mention of the kimono.

Then Itachi introduced his mother Mikoto and little Sasuke. She cooed over Itachi's cute younger brother saying that Itachi better be careful because Sasuke might out shine him, to which the young ANBU smiled and said that he hoped that was the case.

While Tsoran played nice with the Uchihas, Kakashi tried to stay back and willed the event to be over quickly. He didn't like wearing formal clothes and he certainly didn't like eating dinner with the pretentious Uchiha clan.

The second he walked in the door all those starts weren't focused on Tsoran, they were focused on him. Although you couldn't tell by their blank expressions, but he could feel the dark hatred rolling off of them. He was the man that had made a name for himself with a stolen eye, _their _eye. It was usually tense when he was involved with Uchihas, except for maybe Itachi.

They sat down to eat in a large dining room that was more like a ballroom with a table in the middle. Fugaku sat at one end of the table with the elders and Tsoran sandwiched in the middle of them all, and Kakashi down at the other with Itachi, his family, and some members of the police force.

While Tsoran was slowly dying, Kakashi was more at ease sitting next to Sasuke and Uchiha Shisui talking about the cat that Itachi had taken Sasuke to rescue.

It wasn't until after they had eaten that the bombardment of questions began. _At least they had been polite enough to wait before they interrogated me._

"What are your thoughts on Konoha?" One of the Elders named Inuza asked.

"It seems like a lovely village, I haven't seen much of it yet.

"And about your _future _plans, any specific ideas?" Kamichi, the woman, inquired.

"I was hoping I could learn some taijutsu, maybe ninjustu too."

"So you have no knowledge of these things now?" She asked incredulously.

"Well my people are pacifists; it is against their beliefs for me to learn how to fight."

"Perhaps you can learn from one of our own, you are friends Itachi-kun are you not? He would be an excellent teacher." The old woman suggested.

"I haven't made any official plans regarding this just yet, I'll have to wait and see." She replied evasively.

"Have you seen Itachi-kun in action before? If you see a demonstration, surely you will be more inclined to accept an Uchiha teacher." Inuza pressed. Tsoran bit the inside of her cheek in attempts to keep in a sigh. Obviously they wanted to show off, this was the talent show part of the night.

"Uchiha-sama if you wish to show me something by all means, I would be happy to watch." The addled expression on the elders face amused Kakashi greatly. He was always bothered by her brute truths and the Copy Nin enjoyed watching others squirm at her honesty.

Once the questioning started, everyone at the table had stopped their conversations and was listening intently.

It only took a moment for the Uchiha to recover before she turned and nodded to Itachi, who stood up along with Shisui. The later who was only too excited and energized to do so.

They stood in the open space of the room and took similar stances. Then by some unvoiced cue, the pair set into motion a flurry of hand signs, the speed and fluidity of it amazed Tsoran. The boys simultaneously sucked in a deep breath and upon release two huge streams of fire were spit out of their mouths, taking on the shapes of dragons.

Tsoran's eyes widened in awe as the two Uchiha teens wielded the fire dragons to form some sort of dance, they twisted around one another and looked as if they were fighting but at the same time it was peaceful.

It continued for a few minutes before the fire slowly dissipated. Tsoran knew she was a sucker for pretty things and these fire jutsus were beautiful. Then as this one ended they started up on a different jutsu. This time it was two giant fire balls clashing against one another.

The blonde wondered if it was even safe to use so much fire in such a closed in place. _It's probably part of the show, how dangerous can we make it and not burn down the building?_ Tsoran thought sarcastically.

She was aware of the stares that were on her, watching her reaction. And she was also aware that they would be pleased with the expression of amazement on her face.

They moved onto show their fighting style using sharingan, which was by far the most impressive showing. It was hard to track their movements with just her eyes but she could feel their chakra flaring and she followed them using that.

Kakashi was bored. He had seen this kind of stuff all the time. Hopefully, if he was lucky it would last much longer and then they could be on their merry way. Tsoran at least looked interested in what was going on. _She must really not have a lot of experience with ninjas._

Finally Itachi and Shisui completed their demonstration, finishing with a short bow. They were applauded and took their seats. Tsoran was still processing, when they started up again with questions.

"What is your impression Amhara-san?" Fugaku asked. When he spoke it reminded Tsoran of a rhinoceros, a hard exterior with the potential to deadly.

"I am impressed Uchiha-san." If the Uchiha head was pleased he showed nothing.

"Yes, our blood line impresses most." The way he said it was arrogant, but he made it seem modest. It was weird and confused the hell out of Tsoran.

"I supposed it would, it's very intimidating to say the least." Fugaku narrowed his eyes ever so slightly.

"Amhara-san we have heard about your own abilities. Is it true that you can manipulate the elements without forming hand signs?" Kamichi, the old woman, asked. She sure was a bold woman, the female elder has asked her more questions that her male counter parts combined.

"Yes, to some degree."

"What do you mean to some degree?" She pressed.

"I can't manipulate it the way Itachi-san and Shisui-san can, it isn't as perfect and concise." The old woman watched her carefully, studying her face.

"I don't understand. Is it the same for the other elements? For example can you perform a jutsu or it simply just moving the element?" This time Tsoran did sigh. She thought this was going to be more of a match making thing, but they only seems interested in physical ability. Or was that just how the Uchiha worked?

"It's a little more complicated than that."

"Explain."

"Uchiha-san would like me to demonstrate?" Apparently Tsoran was just as fed up with this pointless interrogation as Kakashi was. It wasn't a secret that they were interested in seeing her abilities. No one in the village had had the chance to witness them yet, Kakashi doubted that anyone outside of the Amhara compound had.

Tsoran couldn't help but notice the smug expression that crossed the Uchiha's face.

"If you would like." She said in fake politeness.

"Then we will have to move outside." She said briskly. They all stood from the table and went to the back garden that was covered in a blanket of snow like the rest of the village. Tsoran stuck next to Kakashi as much as she could on the way out trying to avoid any further talk with the Uchihas.

Once outside where the sun had gone down, the Uchihas along with Kakashi sat down onto the mats on the porch waiting for her to start. Tsoran was never one to be very shy, except for the few days after the massacre, but she also wasn't one to seek attention.

Kakashi watched on in curiosity, he was eager to see what she could do. Especially since the Hokage spoke highly of the Amhara clan's abilities.

"If you want me to do this, I would like to ask that you take your spies off the roof." She stated pointing to the building a few houses down. Kakashi had seen them, but he had assumed that their presence wouldn't bother her. She was such an honest person it hadn't occurred to them that she would want to keep this a secret. But it makes sense. Tsoran certainly doesn't look happy with those cocky bastards, Kakashi thought.

Only Mikoto and Shisui had the decency to look embarrassed. Fugaku raised his arm and waved away his men. Tsoran had guessed that since they couldn't blatantly use their sharingan to observe her while she was facing them, they had used less conspicuous methods.

"Since I was shown a fire technique I will start with fire as well." She took a deep breath and as she did so the flames in the lanterns pulled themselves towards her. Then she extended her hand towards the closest lantern and with a slow rotation of her wrist the flame reached out and came towards her.

A steady string of fire approached her hand and as she moved her hand it followed the motions she made. Tsoran brought the flame in front of her and turn her hands in a pinwheel motion causing the fire to form a ring.

Kakashi was slightly mesmerized by it all. It was captivating to watch as she manipulated the fire so easily, and like she said it wasn't really a technique that could be used in battle but it was extremely unique.

That wasn't the only thing that had captured the mismatched eyed man's attention, the way the dim light was reflecting on her soft features made her seem more like an entity than a girl. But Kakashi wasn't going to admit this, either out loud or to himself. She wasn't even that pretty.

After a few more flourishes with the fire, she let it snuff out into little embers that evaporated into the air. Little Sasuke jumped up from his seat and tried to grab at the tiny glowing flecks, and Tsoran couldn't help but smile at this.

But the joy was short lived when Fugaku sternly told his youngest son to sit back down and Sasuke glumly trudged back to his mat. Itachi reassuringly patted his head.

"That is quite an intriguing ability." Izune commented.

"Yes, very appealing." Fugaku agreed.

"Could you show us the other elements?"

And from there Tsoran moved on to the earth element. The style was much different from before, her movements were more purposeful and grounded instead of light and energized. With a sound step of her foot on the ground, the earth trembled much to their surprise.

Mikoto held onto to the column holding up the porch waiting for the movement to subside. Tsoran a quick smirk passed over Tsoran's features as she saw the elder Uchihas' eyes widen.

Then she stalked to a large rock that lay in the pond off the right and she dropped into a horse stance. She made the same kicking motion as before, but instead of making the earth tremble, the rock lifted out of the water and using a fist she moved it onto the grass.

After this she turned back to the Uchihas and Kakashi and made a wide stirring motion with her hand a couple times, this causing the wind to pick up around, threatening to unpin her hair and whipping her kimono skirt around. She did this a few more times and small spiral of wind swirled in front of her, picking up some snow and spare debris. It was a down sized tornado.

She held it there for a little longer before dropping her arm and allowing it to weaken and pitter out causing a gust of to ruffle the Uchihas clothes.

For the first time that night Tsoran saw a small smile on Fugaku's face, or maybe it was more of a grin or a smirk? Hard to tell with that man. And now that she had seen it she wished she hadn't. It was terrifying.

"You have an incredible gift Amhara-san." Fugaku said with that same strange smile on his face.

"Thank you Uchiha-san." Tsoran replied uneasily. They were all staring at her and she didn't understand it. Her abilities weren't that great, she couldn't fight with them, so what good were they? Even Lady Kamichi had held her tongue. It seemed no one was going to say anything more, so Mikoto suggested they go back inside for tea.

The elders walked on ahead chittering amongst themselves and Kakashi walked with Sasuke and Mikoto and Shisui, while Tsoran was left behind with the couple police lieutenants, Fugaku, and thankfully Itachi. However Tsoran was still mentally cursing Kakashi for leaving her alone with them.

"You have great potential Amhara-san. I would be very pleased if you agreed to let one of my men train you." Fugaku commented not even taking the time to look her in the eye as gave this compliment. Tsoran refrained from giving an inelegant snort, but she did narrow her eyes.

The impression she got from the Uchiha clan was one of a blood thirsty, power hungry people. She got a bad feeling from them and knew that nothing good would come of this meeting. They would only want to exploit her clan's ability, just like those rogue ninja.

It probably wasn't that extreme, Tsoran noted to herself, but either way she didn't feel good about them. It was like something sinister was hanging over them. She could sense it in their eyes, those bottomless black orbs had something terrible swimming behind them and it most likely wasn't just the sharingan.

When she met one of their gazes she felt cold inside. The only exceptions being Sasuke and Mikoto, even Itachi who had shown the most kindness to her besides the Hokage and the joyful Shisui had something scary in them.

"Thank you, but it is not my purpose to please you, Uchiha-san." Tsoran replied evenly. Fugaku shot her a short glare but steeled himself quickly. Itachi also gave her a quizzical look, he had never heard anyone talk to his father like that. He wasn't sure whether to be impressed or worried about her mental health.

"I would still like you to think about it. There are many things that are two people could learn from one another." Tsoran was pretty sure that 'learn' meant gain.

After that they had tea and the elders asked more questions like how many children she wanted, her political thoughts on the Daimyo, what her views on working and motherhood were. Simple, easy stuff that she had been asked a million times before.

All the while Kakashi did his best to stay in the background and avoid any conversation that didn't involve his subordinate's younger brother. He was trying to zone out the topic of kids that his charge was currently talking about with those annoying elders. They were the most nosy and self-absorbed people in the village besides the Hyugas maybe.

But (not) soon enough Kakashi and Tsoran were heading out the gates and the later was waving good night to Itachi. Both let out a huge sigh of relief as the compound disappeared into the dark night. Tsoran didn't even mind the bitter cold as long as she was leaving the Uchihas behind.

"That was awful." Tsoran complained. Kakashi nodded, he agreed completely.

"Remind me to never marry into that family. Not even to Itachi or sweet little Sasuke."

"What about Shisui, he seems fun?" Tsoran groaned and shook her head at his teasing.

"Especially him! I feel bad for Mikoto-san, from what little I talked to her she seems very kind. And Fugaku-san is just- is…"

"Awful?" He offered.

"Yes! Exactly! I felt like was trying to eat me with his eyes to consume all my clan's secrets. It was scary." She admitted with exasperation.

"You were scared of him?" Kakashi asked. She hadn't looked it in the slightest, nervous yeah but not scared.

Tsoran glanced at him in surprise, he wasn't normally one for inquiry.

"You weren't? I was terrified." She said frankly wrapping her haori closer to her body. "And just think, we get to do this with all the other clans that offer us dinner." Tsoran paused and looked over at Kakashi before adding, "That is if you're still assigned to me then anyway."

Kakashi stole a peek at her face, that last admittance she had sounded a little sad, but her face gave nothing to think so.

"Who knows?" Kakashi said with a shrug. They walked on for a while in silence, both more than ready to get home.

_I wonder how long I'll be assigned to watch her. Sarutobi-sama probably won't give me any long term missions for the time being. _Kakashi conceded. _What if I have to keep coming to these clan dinners?_ He thought slightly alarmed. He sighed and went to pull out _Icha Icha _when he realized that he hadn't brought it with him because it wouldn't fit in his hakama.

Sullenly, he let his hand rest by his side again. That night could have been worse, there were no altercations between him and the Uchiha so that was a plus. And the food hadn't been bad, much better than the instant ramen that he ate most nights.

But it wasn't the food that had made the night, Tsoran had captured his interest. Her blood line certainly was offbeat compared to other clans'. And the style in which she manipulated the elements differed greatly with each one. She may not have been trained to fight, but it was apparent that she had been trained to control her hold on natural chakra. He could see why she would be targeted.

"Kakashi-san?" Tsoran asked quietly. The softness in her voice had taken him away from his thoughts. He hadn't even noticed that she had begun to cry until now. How long had he been locked in his own world?

"Yes?"

"You've seen bad things right?" He stopped in his tracks and looked at her with a questioning gaze. She followed suit and stopped walking. She turned towards him and tried to dab the tears with her sleeve. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to answer that.

The silver haired man nodded in affirmation. Tsoran suppressed a shudder and stepped forward towards Kakashi.

"How long does it take before you can close your eyes and not see them anymore?" She asked in a whisper. It was then that Kakashi realized that she didn't have 'moments' of sadness. She was in constant turmoil, being tortured by her own memories.

The Amhara girl wasn't stuffing down her emotions like Kakashi had assumed, she was just a master at hiding her inner thoughts from others. Kakashi frowned, there was no answer he could give her that would lift the burden.

He hated this. _This _is why he didn't want to get involved. _This _is why he wanted to stay far away. It would be too easy to get close and Kakashi didn't do well with 'close'. The way they lost their loved ones was completely different, but they were both left completely alone in this world and it wasn't by choice.

And no matter how much he didn't want to involve himself, it was hard not to when she reminded him so much of himself. Kakashi wasn't cold hearted and he wasn't jaded _enough_ to just walk away unaffected. Hell even he had dreamt of the gory mess they had left behind at the Amhara's compound. And he knew from experience what it was like to live and breathe memories like that.

He hated this. But he couldn't force himself to hate her.

"I don't know." He said honestly, "I'm still working on that myself." Those words weren't comforting and they didn't incite any relief, but Kakashi had given a straightforward answer, no lie or bent truth. And even though it induced a sob from the girl in the yellow kimono that was all he could give her.

Maybe that's why Tsoran's so honest. People don't want to hear the truth because they don't want their illusions destroyed, but Tsoran's world had already been shattered so what's the point in a pretty lie?

**I feel like a lot happened in this chapter, but at the same time nothing at all? Idk maybe it's just because it took me a long time to write it! So I've always pictured Tsoran as an honest person who almost never lies if she can help it. That's why Kakashi has a hard time dealing with her because he's so set on lying to keep people out of his head. But then again she almost can't decide how to deal with her emotions so in by shielding her emotions from others a type of deception or more of a self-defense mechanism? Both? What do you guys think about it? **

**Thanks for reading please review! **


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